Our pastor made a statement in the Easter sermon this morning that has stuck with me, so I thought I would write a few thoughts about it here as this Easter Sunday comes to a close. He said, “There’s an empty cross, an empty tomb, what about your life? Is it empty?”

My immediate mental/worship response to this question was to rejoice in the reality that my life is NOT empty. It has been, it could be, it deserves to be, but it is NOT! In this brief post (mostly because I’m tired) I will share a few things that are significant to me about this thought.

My life was empty at one time. Although I came to faith in Christ at an early age (9 years), I was very aware of the emptiness in my life at that time. Perhaps I wouldn’t have described it that way as a 9-year-old. But that is exactly where I was. I was empty of the life that I knew I could have in trusting Christ. I knew I was devoid of life that would be eternally with God. That was the emptiest empty I could have imagined at that time. So…I placed my trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8).

My life has felt pretty empty at times since then. One might ask, if you trusted in Jesus to fill the emptiness, why would you experience an emptiness since then? The reason…my own failure to trust. Though I have never ceased to trust in Jesus as my Savior, there have been times when I failed to fully trust Him for a struggle, a need, a fear or a desire. When I have chosen to do things my way with myself at the center, I have disengaged from that dependent/trusting relationship that He has intended. In turn, I have forfeited the presence and power of Jesus in my life, resulting in a feeling of emptiness (James 4:8-10).

I am most aware of the fullness of the life Jesus has given me when I am in community with others. My life is far from empty. There is no despair when I am aware that I am in Christ and He is in me. That relationship is energized and experienced as I live out life with those God has placed in my life…my wife, my family, my Lifegroup, my faith community…even the non-believers with whom I have the opportunity to rub elbows (Proverbs 27:9).

My life is anything but empty. I rejoice this Easter that an empty cross and an empty tomb do not make for an empty life. Instead, it is the fullest life that I could ever imagine (John 10:10).

How has God filled your life? What relationships help you to see the fullness of life that God has given you?